SpaceX halted the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday with 11 seconds to spare after a airplane allegedly flew into restricted airspace close to the launchpad.
The California exhibition set to ship Starlink satellites into orbit fell aside on the final minute when an plane encroached on the rocket’s launch area, in keeping with a broadcast on Area X’s X account.
On the 12-second mark of the countdown, somebody will be heard exclaiming, “Hold, hold hold!”
“Uh, held for a possible aircraft in the airspace,” the identical voice will be heard saying moments later.
The launch, which was initially imagined to happen on Saturday, was then postponed, in keeping with Enterprise Insider.
It was not instantly clear which plane, if any, prompted the aborted launch.
A number of planes flew close to the restricted space close to the scheduled launch time, in keeping with the outlet.
Whereas social media culprits suspected Delta Flight 480, which flew from Los Angeles to Honolulu early Sunday, the airline stated they adopted air visitors management’s directions and had “no issue.”
In the meantime, audio from air visitors management shared on the YouTube channel VAS Aviation revealed an air visitors controller telling the Delta flight they’d have “the best show for the rocket launch.”
One other flight, Southwest Flight SWA1311, flying from San Diego to Honolulu, was additionally close to the launch zone on the time, however neither the airline nor the FAA acquired reviews in regards to the incident, in keeping with the outlet.
The rocket was efficiently launched Tuesday morning, in keeping with the SpaceX X account.
“Falcon lands for the 400th time!” the account wrote, confirming the deployment of 27 Starlink satellites.
